Gaffney suffered a knee injury over the weekend that will require surgery. He'll miss the season, but when he returns, he'll wear New England's red, white and blue.

It's reminiscent of Belichick claiming injured Giants tight end Jake Ballard off waivers in 2012 after New York also attempted to whisk the veteran by for a trip to IR.

After the Ballard transaction, the Patriots were dressed down by some for breaking a so-called "unwritten rule" that says teams should respectfully turn a blind eye to injured players riding the waiver wire.

We recall similar ire when the Browns in 2009 exposed sixth-round rookie cornerback Don Carey to waivers only to have the Jaguars snatch him up.